By John Mayaki
The mill never gets tired, it keeps fanning and fanning and fanning,
spewing elaborate falsehood. Crusoe Osagie, the Special Advisor to
Governor Godwin Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, has in the
recent weeks, true to his job designation, set up and devoted himself to
a strategy of mendacity, revisionism, and sporadic allegation on
prominent political actors.
His subject of defamation is too often, the National Chairman of the All
Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. Osagie, acting publicly
on behalf of his principal and all the other person in that sinking
camp, throws everything at the National Chairman, hoping that by such
media witchcraft, he will find a way to whip up sentiment against
Oshiomhole.
The most recent activity in fostering and pushing the agenda of this
cut-and-nail strategy comes alive on Punch Newspaper, where Osagie,
acting on behalf of the locusts in power at Edo State, blames Oshiomhole
for the shameful breakdown of law and order in Edo, accusing the
Chairman to be doing so with the aim of riding the chaos to push Obaseki
out of power. A conspiracy theory of course, except that beneath the
surface, is found some elements of truth. Only that this time, the
narrative is turned on its head to achieve a sinister purpose.
The concealed truth is that Obaseki and the cohort designed a grand
scheme, one which its techniques are violence, chaos, and anarchy. Fully
assured that he is set for failure should things be allowed to follow
the normal course, Obaseki is fertilizing the land with arson, bombing,
and all manner of lawlessness, and pinning it on his political
opposition, aiming to convince the public that there is the need to
declare a state of emergency.
The reason for this heinous machination is clear and simple: that is the
only means Obaseki can reemerge victorious in the polls. Even, there
won’t be any polls, just a smokescreen, a play to the gallery while
behind the scenes, the agents of Obaseki’s evil will rig themselves to
victory and power.
So what Osagie is doing in the media, frequenting the pages of newspaper
and television screens, begging and paying journalists to conduct a
quick interview on him, is part of the grand design: he, Osagie, is a
John The Baptist forerunning for the coming anarchy. He cries foul,
points accusing fingers, conflating narratives, so that when at last,
they hit the state with their plan, the masses will, at worst, not know
who is persecuting them, or at best, think that Oshiomhole is to be
blamed.
Admittedly, Obaseki and group of devious companies were smart with this
scheme, except that like a proverb popular among the southeastern people
says, ”the fast walking legs is seen by the fast seeing eyes.”
Osagie’s stunt in the media, aimed to do good PR for a bad scheme, is
seen for what it is, and no amount of confusing sophistry can convince
the public audience. Obaseki, like a dying horse, keeps kicking in the
wrong directions, continuing in his futile attempt to salvage a sinking
ship. But unfortunately, by its own making, the ship is already beneath
the sea. It is what it is.
Mayaki is an Oxford and Cambridge University-trained entrepreneurship,
leadership and sustainability expert. He’s also a Professional
Consultant (CMI) on Communication, Management and Strategy.